Luke Wright is convinced he has made the right decision to reject the chance to join the Indian Premier League to try to establish himself with England.

The Sussex all-rounder was the latest England player to admit this week that he had been approached by the IPL, but dismissed the offer.

He went some way towards pushing his England claims on Thursday by hitting a blistering 120 off only 131 balls to help England Lions out of trouble before they were dismissed for 280 on the opening day of their four-day match against New Zealand at the Rose Bowl.

His innings saved the Lions, England's next best set of cricketers, from complete capitulation and could not have been more timely with coach Peter Moores and selector Geoff Miller in the crowd.

It also came on a day where he would have been in India or on his way there had he accepted the riches on offer from the IPL instead of lining up for the Lions.

"I would either have been out there already or on a flight on my way out there, but hopefully I've done the right thing," said Wright, who hit 16 fours and two sixes in his innings.

"The offer was something my agents told me about but it was never something really that I questioned at the time.

"It was a great thing to get asked to do but it was bad timing because I want to push on and play for England."

Wright's efforts helped England add 154 in the final session after they had slipped to 89 for five having won the toss and deciding to bat first, and must have helped his claims for future promotion to the Test line-up.

"It's something I have been trying to work hard on," he admitted. "The big thing for me this year was to try and score runs and try and prove I can bat in this form of the game as well.

"So far this season it's been going well but it's up to me to carry on that form and I do have to try and curb my attacking instincts sometimes.

"At times in the past I've tried to do it too soon and not given myself a chance, which I've had to do in one-day games as well.

"It's always nice to score runs and even better when the selectors are here as well."

Despite Wright's display, the tourists were content with their progress in the build-up to next week's opening Test at Lord's after beating Essex last week.

"We have an annoying habit of turning up on tours and losing warm-up games," conceded seamer Chris Martin, who finished with three for 58.

"It never really gets confidence going or builds the momentum you need to compete when you're away from home. To win the game against Essex for a young side like ourselves was a massive step forward and something we enjoyed."